Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone 5C Cuts Into 5S Activations

Although at first Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5S was far more popular than its counterpart the 5C, it looks like the less expensive 5C is catching up. Data from Localytics (via CNET) shows that while the iPhone 5S previously had more than three times as many activations as the 5C, it now has only about twice as many.

Apple’s iPhone 5C catching up to 5S

Localytics reports that for every activation of one of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5C handsets, there are 1.9 activations of the 5S in the U.S. On a global scale, that gap increases to 2.3 5S activations for every 5C activation. But in spite of this wide margin, it is still far smaller than the previous number. Earlier this month, the research firm found that there were about 3.4 iPhone 5S activations for every single 5C activation. It looked at activations for 20 million devices in determining its numbers.

The fact that there’s a wider gap between the iPhone 5S and 5C on a global scale rather than in the U.S. shows that the less expensive model is slightly more popular in the U.S. than it is in other countries. This is the opposite of what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been going for because the 5C was meant to be a less expensive device for developing markets.

Will Apple keep growing?

Even though it’s clear that Apple sells far more than enough iPhones to remain extremely profitable, investors are still looking for signs of growth. The company has been losing market share as the low end of the smartphone industry grows, and analysts have berated Apple for not launching a truly low cost iPhone. The pricing of the handset was much higher than they would have wanted

Tomorrow Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will likely unveil a new iPad and iPad Mini as it tries to regain growth in the tablet market as well. The company’s June quarter was a tough one for tablet sales, so it is trying to regain its growth position there.